Original hermit crab thread close due to maximum posts hit capacity. Refresh your bookmarks.

Lets start fresh from here.



Where to buy hermit crab?
------------------------------

1. Pet Safari @ Ikano Power Center - lots of it! Size is varied from micro / small / medium / jumbo. @ counter of Pet Lovers Center
2. Pets Family, Taman Megah SS24, beside Ming Tian food court - Approx. 11 Strawberry hermit crabs. RM30/each.



Hermit crabs food for sale at...
------------------------------
Legend : Shop name, location - product brand + name(price)

1. Betta Discovery, 1 Utama - Crab Worx (RM?)no longer on sale
2. Carrefour, Midvalley - Crab Worx (RM5.50)no longer on sale
3. Pet Lovers Center, Sunway Pyramid - Hikari crab pallets (RM8.50)
4. Pets Family, SS24 Taman Megah (Beside Ming Tian food court) - Hikari crab pallets (Rm8.50)
4. Pet Safari, Ikano Power Center, Mutiara Damansara



What type of crabs currently on sale in Malaysia? (at time of writing)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Ecuadorian Hermit Crab ( Small hermit crab ) RM5 ~ RM8.50
2. Ruggies Hermit Crab ( Medium sized hermit crab ) RM9.90 ~ RM12
3. Strawberry / Purple Pincer Hermit Crab ( Golf sized hermit crab ) RM 15 ~ RM30 ( Price varied from medium to Jumbo )

Note : All price is listed from survey and buying experience. Do not quote on it. Price is varied depends on location.
A rough guide on how to choose / buy hermit crab
-------------------------------------------------------

Things should you look out for is grayish legs and blurry eyes if the hermit crab crawls out. That means the crab is about to go through molting. Choose at risk.

It is fine to have the crab close to your hand so that it will come out from its shell so you can have a good look of it.

Most crabs were shy and always in the shell. DO NOT press the hermit crab to force it out, the more you press them, the longer they hide. This build up stress to the crab.

Shell condition is important. Any cracks on the shell is not recommended for new owners as the cracks will bring injuries to the crab's abdomen.

Active crabs is easy to spot, those that crawl up and down are actives. Also active crabs sometimes brings harm. If you are getting anything larger than Ecuadorian crab, don't let it pinch you.

This is important, DO NOT BUY ANY COLORED SHELL crabs. Toxin from the color will gradually infect the crab so avoid totally. It is recommended to get crabs with natural shells.

Related to the point above, you will need to have to buy extra shells for the crabs so get the ones that is the SAME size what that crab is currently wear.


Short pros and cons of keeping hermit crab as pet
---------------------------------------------------------
Pros :

They are small, relatively cheap in food, general care and enviroment setup aka. crabitat construction.
Clean and allergic free.
Cute in appearance.

Cons :
Very messy as time goes by.
Unpredictable behavior depends on humidity, temperature.
Stinks badly if the crab died for 36 hrs.
Short life in Captivity. 40 years in nature .vs 4 years in tank.


Future readings
------------------
http://www.crabstreetjournal.com (Packed with articles and a good user experience based advice forum)

More will add in soon..


Additional request
--------------------
Do PM me if you would like to see / or have question on hermit crab thread in LYN forum

Information donation needed! If you have any good tips on hermit crabs, post it!
Happy reading and happy crabbing!!

This post has been edited by onscreen: Apr 1 2013, 09:50 PM

Yeah! My crabs celebrate their new year by messing up the whole tank

---

Added on January 3, 2008, 10:04 pmBought myself a Ruggie and yet to shift it to the main tank.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jan 3 2008, 10:04 PM

IIRC, that shell is from japan. Plastic shell. Correct me if i am wrong.

Looks nice! Love the pics! My hermit crabs is way smaller than yours ( Ecuadorian ).

Your substrate looks shallow, do your crab do surface moulting?

How many in the tank? I once have 6, 4 died left to pioneers

Not really. The crabs have some intelligent sense when it digs around the substrate. I have an inch deep substrate when i first got the crabs and they did surface moulting until i added another 5 inches of sand and they start digging when they wanted to moult.

Wow, non camera shy hermit crab! cute! >.<

Tip of the day : the shell that the hermit crab is wearing above is Babylonia Spirata, a favorite shell for Ecuadorian and Ruggies hermit crabs.

---

Added on April 24, 2008, 8:24 pmWise advice indeed. 4 small crabs died in a 2ft tank for me then i upgraded it to a 4 ft tank, bought 4 new crabs and they are ok now

Adding your provided link to the starting topic

This post has been edited by onscreen: Apr 24 2008, 08:24 PM

Fighting is rare for my crabs.. dominant one? Its all of it, since everyone have the same favorite spot. Once all the crab wanted to be on the same spot, they would just climb up on each other. Food sharing is a problem, sometimes they push around, sometimes and tear abit and hug it.. still never see them fight.

btw Jamien, you name all your crabs sushi related? Cant wait to see Tamago and Tempura to be added in the family :P

---

Added on April 24, 2008, 9:48 pmI did recommend all tanks should have a "second floor" for the crabs, I had mine build with drift wood and artificial vein that hooks up to the tank's cover so that they would climb upside down whenever they want ( of cause having the lid close tight )

Alternative solution is to use hemp net to make extra space above.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Apr 24 2008, 09:48 PM

Yes Betta Discovery have moved to B1, besides the POS Malaysia. They still sell hermit crabs. Hardly see any small ones these days.

Also nice crabitat you have there. Hagen Crabworx, i used to have those pellets and iirc, betta discovery sell those. Recently i see Hikari brand crab pellets more than other brands i know.

---

Added on May 7, 2008, 11:21 pm@hyrl - Those sand looks familiar. Are those the Reptisand that is sold in a tin can in 1 ~ 4kg?

This post has been edited by onscreen: May 7 2008, 11:21 PM

Geez blitzboy made a good point there on the wind. Will try that tomorrow.

Reptisand is actually a processed beach sand and its baked before packed. Reptisand is used in reptiles but its recommended for hermit crabs as well since it have good humidity control and water absorbtion that would keep the sand wet for quite sometime.

Betta Discovery recently no longer sell pellets for hermit crabs. So far from my search, pet shops around in PJ, Pets Family and Pet Lovers Center carry some hermit crab pellets and hermit crabs related items like shell shaped food dish, Reptisand, climbing decorations etc etc.. though stocks is rather limited.

He made a good point there and you posted faster than me

Anyway, will post update on the crabs activity with a fan turned on.


And Prophet007, with all due respect, forum is a commuity of sharing information but not knowledge bashing. Also, 40 crabs is possible but you have to judge the size of every crab before putting them in.

Hey blitzboy, i tried putting a timed fan blowing into the tank and yes, the crabs respond to wind. For the first time ever, they make chipping sounds during the night and their activity is greatly improved. Sleep in the day, playing hard at night and it fixed my super high humidity as well.

Anyway, my girlfriend brought me to a shop at SEA PARK by the name Irine Aquarium, they recently have alot of aquarium stocks and price isnt expensive compared to most current pet shops. If any of you want to expand their crabitat and staying rather near or in PJ, give that shop a go.

---

Added on May 21, 2008, 4:08 pmAh those, there are a size comparison thingy for people to imagine how big would those be. Though i do notice the size are varied but those indicated in the bracket is mostly the common size you can get in the petshop.

This post has been edited by onscreen: May 21 2008, 04:08 PM

Why ruggies? Its a nick name to that specific type of crab rather than going through its long species name.

7 species over all:
Ecuadorian
Ruggie
Strawberry (a.k.a land strawberry)
PurplePincher (a.k.a Carribean Hermit Crab)
Viola
Cavipe
Indo

---

Added on May 21, 2008, 5:07 pmThe pics, i will take it this weekend as i am moving them to a new tank so its a best time to "show off"

This post has been edited by onscreen: May 21 2008, 05:11 PM

woah, what pet shop is that.. i did pay a visit and do a revolt on no colored shells for hermit crabs

Boiled tap water can be used for hermit crabs.

@ahtiven : 5 inches of substrate and make sure you get a termometer for the tank. If possible, get a humidity reader as well. New carbs are rarely active when they first brought into homes as they have to adapt the enviroment. This is known as Post Purchase Stress ( PPS ) .. they need intensive care and to make sure that your crabs is comfortable in your home, spend more time with them, play with them. Talk to them gentally as they DO understand emotion and feelings

Also, you have to monitor the crabs really frequent. When crabs get too stressed, they would just crawl out from the shell and run around shell-less.

Next thing to make sure is you get extra shells just incase they are in need of changing shells. Each crab must have at least 3 shells minimum. For instance, you bought 3 crabs from a pet shop and you have to get 9 shells in total that is the size of the current wearing shell or slightly bigger from the current.

Try looking for this product : Exo Terra artifical Vein, Exo Terra feeding / water dish. The price is varied from RM8.90 till RM49.90 for the dishes while RM15.90 for the Artificial Vein ( Medium ) while RM29.90 for Coarse Artifical Vein. Some plastic products contain uncertain amount of toxic so try avoid any of it. Large driftwood is good as a decoration item. Just make sure that you soak it in warm water before you use it.

Oh i forgot this : Crabs do need privacy. If they want a moment of their own, Exo Terra Reptile Cave is a good choice for them. Varied in size ranging from RM 8.90 till RM48.90 (Small to Extra Large) or you can get those small flower pots (may it be plastic or clay) to make a hideout place for them. Oh, if you feed bread to them dont be surprise to see balanced bread being stacked in the hideout.

For the substrate, get some fine sand that is non color-ed. Geo-System substrate is the brand of sand i am using for my crabs. Make it 4 ~ 5 inches depends on the size of your crab. Also get some smooth river pebbles for extra flavor. The price for that is RM 8 per 4kg? . There another sand brand that is optimized for reptiles and crabs, Repti-sand is the name. Though its expensive ( RM16.90 ~ RM29.90 ) but the sand is extra fine and well processed.

Optional substrate to enhance the tank environment is the Exo Terra Jungle Bedding. It comes in a fixed size pack or i would say, rather huge pack and tagged with a price of RM19.90. It consist of wood bits that is excellent in humidity management so you wont have to spray fresh water on the substrate that frequent.

Sorry if i typed that long English is abit choppy due to me eating dumplings while typing.

---

Added on June 9, 2008, 4:41 pmPossible to take a picture of the crabs? So that some of us would be able to identify and assist you over setting up a proper environment for the crabs.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jun 9 2008, 04:45 PM

Noisy means they are active. Hermit crabs usually goes active at night and inactive at day except for weather changes. Mine goes active when its raining and they are sleepy heads when sunny / hot season.

Food, hermit crabs eat anything that can be pinched / tear. for instance, Steam fish without added ingredients, steamed prawns, peanut butter, bread without the crust, fruits fibers (except orange, durian, grapes.) they dont eat vegetables except for carrot and steamed potato. for a more balance food nutritions, baby food is the best. If you have a large tank, put in 2 food dish, one serve general food while the other cater specific types. This way, they have varieties in thier meal.

Some crabs are intelligent enough to move the food and mix it so dont worry on mixing the food at once, this will extend the hours of food exposure before it turns bad.

Identification of hermit carbs is done by strokes that they have on the big pincher, the pattern on the head, its feelers (color, shape of the tip). Those reaction hairs around the crawlers and pinchers is also another way to identify the species of the crab. Color is hard to identify since an ecuadorian can have a purplish tone on the exo-skeleton and the color goes back to greyish green after moulting.

Also to share a tip here : learn up most of the shells that hermit crab wear.

Example : babylona spirata is one of the top favourite shells worn by ecuadorian crab while ruggies prefer turbo shells. According to research, the curvity of the inner shells is how the hermit crabs find its favorite shells. Due to their different shapes on the abdomen, it needs the required space to curl up and hook the shell properly.

I will take some pics tomoro morning for an example on the identification.

---

Added on June 10, 2008, 10:39 pmSand on the roadside have a large mixture of bacteria and tar so its that is not suitable for substrate. Some claim that gardening soil works for hermit crab if well washed. Small containers suits only for 2 crabs but nothing more. Recommended size is a 2FT(60cm) tank and that can store up 6 ecuadorians or 2 ecuadorians and 2 ruggies or 3 equadorians and 1 strawberry / PP.

Dont worry about them not eating food. If you notice the food moved around, that means they do eat it but did not leave obvious mark of them eating it. Only Ruggies, Starwberry and PP will leave obvious eating marks to the food. Ecuadorians are the most gentle eater among all hermit crabs.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jun 10 2008, 10:43 PM

Yap theres still forest bedding. ExoTerra forest bedding it is. Still on sale in most pet shops except for pets wonderland.

Mine bath by ownself. They would just sit in the water dish as they are in a bath tub, soak awhile and crawl out of it. Fromy my speculation, it soak inself 2 time per day.

Currently both of my crabs is prepping to go through its 6th mouting session.. so i cant do anything or any shifting.. sigh.. so bored

Hahaha.. love how the crabs sleeps... its even funnier when they sleep with the belly up.

Red Sea salt do come in container form. Couldnt remember the price i bought. It weight 333g and if not mistaken, that is the smallest.

When a hermit crab leaves it shell...

do the following :

-INSTANT isolation and take out the last shell it wore and get a similar size opening shell.

-Wash both shells and do a instant drying.

-*This step is not recommended but do it at your risk. Refer below for personal experience overview* Put all the available shells in the isolation tank, sprinkle water on the shells and the crab, monitor its progress while the crab go through the shells. Its time consuming but during the process, let nature take its course. It will eventually found a shell it love.

If you have limited shell options, then it will be a risk to have the crab to be alive naked.

-Once the crab got back into the shell, keep it isolated for 24 hours ~ 36hours before putting back to the tank to see if any other side effect.


Why crab leave its shell?

-Internal fitting is too tight for the crabs which will cause suffocation as its modified grill is around its abdomen.

-Heat trap within the tank. This only applies to closed tank. take off the tank cover and check humidity and temperature. Let open the cover for a few days. If you have a heating pad below your tank, off it and do a check up on the crabs for brownish liquid. If there is, INSTANT isolation is required.

-Lack of shells. This is a very common issue on why crabs leave its shell. Due to limited choice, they would just go naked and will search for a better "home" and the result is always death threatening. Make sure you have alot of non-colored shells in the tank so they can do their "shopping"

-Fighting. This is rare but usually end of a fight, one or either both of the crab will just pop out of the shell for no reason. Separate both of the crabs and make sure they return to the shell. Check for injuries or loose legs / pincher(s).

-Molted crab is around the tank. Molted crab have this fresh smell that attracts active crabs to the shell assuming its another good calcium food. This result the molted crab to be naked.


Below is the my experience on a naked newly molted crab.

In the previous hermit crab thread in LYN, i posted about both of my crabs battled for a bigger shell as one of it ownd a larger shell and completed a surface molting so the active one just jump on him and pulled the molted crab out of the shell resulting a loose pincher and a hind leg.

My mum later told me she saw a crab running in circle at the food dish naked so i have isolate it and searched its previous shell. The quick action of the active crab switch to the bigger shell and left a smaller one. Without much option, i took the shell and its time to put the molted crab back into the shell.

First attempt was a shocking moment since the crab is battling to survive and each few minutes, it will remain motionless and frankly, my tears almost flow out. I kept refilling my sprayer with water and kept a consistent water on the crab to keep the grill wet. Later, my mum suggested me to feed them their favorite food, peanut butter to see if he will eat it and regain energy. The result is a miracle, it chomp almost half of the peanut butter and regained what he lost.

After 10 minutes of making it active, its time to "force" the crab back into the shell. First have the crab abdomen put into the shell and if it pushes the shell away, that means the shell is either too small or too large for it to grip on. So i have to spend the next few minutes to go through all the shells i have and found one that suits him. He wanted to wear but the abdomen kept curling up.

To trick the crab to straighten the abdomen is to spray lots of water to it. When its almost straight, shove in the shell slowly and the next few second, the crab will curl out and hug the shell by itself to straighten up the shell. And viola, crab is back in the shell.

It should be easier on a non molting crab but its really risky to do that with a newly molted crab as most of its exoskeleton is still soft. Make sure you dont go panic with shiver hands while doing the manual wear-back-the-shell work else it will hurt the crab's abdomen.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jul 7 2008, 04:10 PM